Saturday, September 26, 2020

BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2020
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME

WARM AND MOSTLY SUNNY FOLLOWING SOME MORNING FOG….

Today started off foggy, with visibility limited to
a 1/2 mile at the 7 A.M. observation. By 1 P.M., we
only reached 35 miles due to haze. Wind was southerly,
at an average slightly above 10 mph. The highest gust
is 19 mph since this morning. Following the morning
fog, skies were clear for the most part, save some
cumulus and altocumulus seen at 1 P.M.

Aside from the present weather, today marked the 15th
consecutive day without measurable precipitation.
The entire state of MA has deepened its drought conditions
since a week ago. It is worth mentioning that while the
departures range from 5 inches to as much as 13 inches
across the Commonwealth, the Quabbin and the Wachusett
Reservoirs remain in very healthy condition. For perspective,
93% is the current capacity at the Quabbin which fully serves
32 communities in Eastern MA plus an additional 16
municipalities for partial supply. Wachusett Reservoir sits
right behind at 91% capacity. The last significant drought
in MA occurred during the last half of 2016 into early 2017
where the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs measured 79% and
89% respectively, both still safely above the warning stage.

-Drought section written by Andrew Swanson

The high so far today is 76F, 8 degrees above the daily
normal max of 68F. The low since midnight is 57F, which
is 6 degrees above the normal low of 51F.

Today’s Observations:

7 A.M.
Weather: Fog
Temperature: 58F; Dew Point: 58F; Relative Humidity: 100%
Wind: SSW at 4 kts, light and variable
Sea-level pressure: 30.17 ins. Hg: rising steadily
Visibility: 1/2 mile (fog)
6-hr Max temp: 59F
6-hr Min temp: 57F
24-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1155 X W3 1/2F 216/58/58/2104/017/ WND L/V/ 8//// 53010
10059 20057

10 A.M.
Weather: Few cirrus
Temperature: 68F; Dew Point: 57F; Relative Humidity: 67%
Wind: S at 9 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.15 ins. Hg: falling steadily
Visibility: 15 miles due to a smoke layer
3-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1455 CLR 15 209/68/57/1809/015/ FEW CI K LYR ALQDS/ 8/001
58007

1 P.M.
Weather: Scattered altocumulus, few cumulus
Temperature: 75F; Dew Point: 55F; Relative Humidity: 49%
Wind: S at 9G17 kts
Sea-level pressure: 30.10 ins. Hg: falling steadily
Visibility: 35 miles (hazy)
6-hr Max temp: 76F
6-hr Min temp: 58F
6-hr Precip: 0.00 ins.
BHO SA 1755 70 SCT 35 193/75/55/1909G17/010/ FEW CU ALQDS HAZY/ 8/180
58016 10076 20058

SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX…..77   NORMAL…..68
MIN…..57   NORMAL…..51
MEAN….67   NORMAL…..60

DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL……………. +7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH…………….-18 [-0.9 DEGREES/DAY]

HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN)
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..0  DEPARTURE……-6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………….94  DEPARTURE…..+14
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON…………97  DEPARTURE……-8
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE…….79  DEPARTURE…..+18

COOLING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JAN TO DEC)
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY…………..2  DEPARTURE……+1
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE MONTH………… 54  DEPARTURE….. -2
TOTAL COOLING UNITS FOR THE SEASON………..811  DEPARTURE….+218
TOTAL COOLING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE……676  DEPARTURE….+135

PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY (MPH)
420C/Official…………….18 ENE AT  3:42 P.M.
AERO…………………….18 WSW AT 12:34 A.M.
ASOS…………………….19 WSW AT 12:08 A.M.
DAVIS……………………20 WSW AT 12:07 A.M.
RMY N/A  MERLIN N/A
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY………………….15 W   AT  1:22 A.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE……………….15 E   AT  4:21 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE………………16 W   AT  1:22 A.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION……………7.8 W (188 total miles)
ASOS……………………8.3
DAVIS…………………..8.3 SW [220 deg.]

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M….0.00  DEPARTURE….-0.15
ASOS…………..0.00
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH……….0.51  DEPARTURE….-2.81
ASOS…………..0.51
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR……….33.32  DEPARTURE….-5.02
ASOS………….34.09

PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust
RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
….: Data not yet available, records not finalized
M:    Missing data

09/01  76/59/68/0/0.00/698/88              22 SSE  AERO 21 SE   RMY 20
09/02  69/59/64/-4/0.18/102/13             23 SSE  AERO 23 SSE  RMY 24
09/03  75/66/71/+4/0.04/000/00             22 SSW  AERO 21 SSW  RMY N/A
09/04  82/62/72/+5/0.00/763/98             26 WNW  AERO 26 WNW  RMY 25
09/05  76/55/66/-1/0.00/760/98             25 W    AERO 25 W    RMY 24
09/06  78/58/68/+1/0.00/356/46             24 W    AERO 24 W    RMY N/A
09/07  79/61/70/+4/0.00/632/82             27 SSE  AERO 30 SSE  RMY 28
09/08  82/61/72/+6/0.00/545/71             17 S    AERO 16 S    RMY 17
09/09  80/62/71/+5/0.00/214/28             16 S    AERO 15 S    RMY 16
09/10  81/69/75/+10/0.28/015/02            21 SSW  AERO 21 SSW  RMY N/A
09/11  72/55/64/-1/0.01/152/20             25 N    AERO 25 N    RMY N/A
09/12  68/51/60/-5/0.00/666/88             21 ENE  AERO 21 ENE  RMY 21
09/13  74/53/64/0/0.00/611/81              26 SSW  AERO 26 SSW  RMY 26
09/14  74/50/62/-2/0.00/511/68             29 NNW  AERO 33 NNW  RMY 30
09/15  64/44/54/-10/0.00/…/..            18 S    AERO 18 S    RMY N/A
09/16  72/49/61/-2/0.00/…/..             31 SSW  AERO 31 SSW  RMY 31
09/17  76/57/67/+4/0.00/…/..             26 WSW  AERO 28 W    RMY N/A
09/18  64/48/56/-6/0.00/…/..             28 NE   AERO 30 NNW  RMY N/A
09/19  59/42/51/-11/0.00/…/..            23 N    AERO 23 N    RMY N/A
09/20  58/40/49/-13/0.00/…/..            25 NE   AERO 25 NE   RMY 27
09/21  61/41/51/-10/0.00/…/..            29 NE   AERO 27 NE   RMY 29
09/22  63/39/51/-10/0.00/…/..            28 NNW  AERO 30 NNW  RMY 29
09/23  78/50/64/+4/0.00/…/..             31 NW   AERO 32 WNW  RMY 32
09/24  76/57/67/+7/0.00/…/..             20 SW   AERO 18 WSW  RMY 19
09/25  77/57/67/+7/0.00/…/..             18 ENE  AERO 18 WSW  RMY N/A

09/26 The low since midnight is 57F, the daily normal low is 51F

DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):

RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 26
HIGH 91F IN 2007
LOW 36F IN 1905,1922,1978
PRECIP 3.84 INCHES IN 1888
PEAK GUST 54e MPH S IN 1977

RECORDS FOR SEPTEMBER 27
HIGH 86F IN 2017
LOW 32F IN 1947
PRECIP 2.26 INCHES IN 1962
PEAK GUST 100 MPH SSE IN 1985 (HURRICANE GLORIA)

TODAY’S REPORT PREPARED BY: Benjamin Turner